in search of kalel
by allison-costa
Summary: someone's come to earth looking for "kal-el" -- and their not leaving unti lthey get what they came for. will clark go peacefully? yeah right!
1. in search of kalel

----the runs of krypton----  
  
the man called jor-el slowly surveyed the scene laid out before him. where once had stood the proud planet of krypton, only dust and fragments of meteorites remained. even through the protective, speically-made steel of his ship, he could feel the faint affects of the kryptonite, sapping him of strength and sending a shiver down his spine. it had always done that, and it always would.  
  
there was a faint signal, here, of his son's ship. the ship that he had sent away in such haste, hoping to spare the boy the brutal death that he had been so sure awaited all the people of his planet. perhaps kal-el would have survived, as he had. perhaps he would not have. there was no way of knowing. now, all that he could do was follow the signal of his son's tiny ship, and hope that the boy had escaped harm, was living peacefully on some planet far from here, where he would never be faced with the pain that came with being a kryptonian.   
  
there would be enough of that pain in the future, of that jor-el was confident.  
  
sighing softly, jor-el moved slowly toward the comman console of his ship, sitting down heavily. every moment that he spent in this god-forsaken place, he became weaker, both in body and in mind. the minute he was far enough away he would be fine, he knew that from past experience. however, it was just so damn annoying!   
  
his fingers sped quickly over the console, latching onto the faint traces of his son's ship and placing them intot he computer's memory. it wold take a couple of moments for the comptuer to analyze the informaton, and in the mean time jor-el was left with his thoughts.  
  
what was kal-el doing now? was he happy? sad? was he laughing? crying? did he wonder about his parents, about why he had been sent away? there had been no time to change the message that had been sent in the ship, no time to add a message of explanation. did kal-el hate him? did he understand that sometimes, drastic measres had to be taken? was he unharmed, ad he been taken in by good people who could care for him?  
  
jor-el started as the computer beeped loudly, smiling softly. the ship was now ready to follow the course of his son's hip, follow it to wherever kal-el might be. it would follow the faint signal that kal-el's ship gave off at all moments : a signal used to find lost ships, even if all power had been turned off. it would find the planet where kal-el was, and then find the exact location of the ship upon that planet.  
  
it was time to bring kal-el home.  
  
---- from the author ----  
  
Authors Note : This story is AU. That means that it doesn't follow along with what actually happened in the story, although several plot items have been taken from the telivision series Lois and Clark : The New Adventures of Superman. What plot items, you may ask? Well, that'd be giving it away, now wouldn't it? Just remember : AU. And do i really haveto tell you that i don't own smallville? or it's characters/actors? If i did, this story wouldn't be AU, it would be part of the show :)  
  
authors note II : i did not see the ending episodes of season two, nor have i seen the beginning episodes of season 3. this takes place before clark went "bad" and left for metropolis -- while martha was still pregnant with the child. it begins shortly after she had told johnothan and clark that she was pregnant. 


	2. family reunion

----somewhere in space----  
  
jor-el was bored. actually, he was beyond bored. bored was counting to a hundred in kryptonian -- 5 times. bored was pouring over allavailable texts that information on that planet where kal-el seemed to have ended up landing : namely, Earth. However, all those texts now lay scatterd upon his sleeping quarters, having had very little useful information. he could always teach himself to speak one of the many languages spoken upon that planet, but that just seemed silly. kal-el would certaintly be able to speak kryptonian, so what was the point in learning some native language that he would have no use for afterwards?  
  
jor-el leaned backward in his chair, only to be jerked upright by a loud, incessent beeping noise. it took him a moment to realize just what that noise meant.   
  
they had arrived at earth. time for him to follow the trail that would lead him to his son's ship.  
  
----smallville, kansas, the planet earth ----br  
  
clark kent was having what was, most likely, one of the worst days of his life. everything just seemed to go wrong. first, he missed the bus (again), got a detention for being late, and somehow had managed to make, not only chloe mad, but lana and pete, as well. and now, the truck had stalled and he was stranded in the middle of nowhere with lana and pete, both of whom were still mad at him.   
  
well, perhaps stranded wasn't the correct term. after all, he could get out of here no problem, and could get pete out, as well. however, that would mean revealing his powers to lana, and he just wasn't ready to do that ... yet.  
  
clark sighed softly, stretching his arms up above his head, before turing to look at lana. obviously a bad idea. she had a look in her eyes that clearly said "stay away from me, clark". wonderful. just wonderful. he was stranded int he middle of nowhere with a pissed of lana, and pete wouldn't talk to him, either.   
  
clark glanced quickly down the road as he heard the sound of a car -- or truck -- rumbling it's way toward them. pete was already dashing out into the road to try and flag the car down, only to stop dead in his tracks. his e yes were round with fear, and he glanced quickly back to clark, as if expecting some sort of explanation.   
  
as pete glanced back to the road, clark followed his gaze -- and instantly understood the reason for his best firend's fear. who would have ever thought that a car could make the same type of noise as an alien space ship?  
  
there was no doubt in clark's mind that what he was looking at was an alien space ship -- it was identicle to his own ship, hidden in the storm cellar back home, with the exception of it being bigger ........ much bigger. hearing lana make a small noise of fright, clark glanced back quickly at her, noiticing th way her hands shook slightly.  
  
"hello kal-el." clark stiffened at the sound of that name, glancing around to see if the others had heard that voice. from the look on pete's face, they had. not that they would have understood anything, aside from the name of kal-el ........ and even that name wouldn't mean anything to lana.   
  
clark licked his suddenly dry lips, eyes glued to the ship slowly touching down on the road before them. H e felt glued to the spot, unable to move, or even to speak. He had only recently come to terms with the fact that his entire home planet had evidently been destroyed, and that he was the last suriviving member of his race. And yet, this ship ........ it was just like his.  
  
clark barely heard the yelled "clark!" that pete send his way, before there was a sharp pain in his forehad, and he glanced up toward the upper portion of the strange ship, to see a shadowy, dark-haired figure pointing some sort od device at him. and then ........ darkness. 


	3. Waking Up

Jor-el leaned back in his chair, staring at the computer console in front of him. The Guild had sent him a message -- lengthy for them, but only covering two paragraphs. But, for all of it's shortness, it conveyed a world of bad news.  
  
They were angry at him for leaving so abruptly, and not telling anybody where he was going, for starters. They liked to know what their members were doing, and that was kind of impossible when one of them dissappeared for days on end. The ship Ichor was waiting in port for him to unload, the owners seeming to only trust him to do things proper and not try to steal anything. Not that he blamed them, really ........ some of the other people he worked with were some pretty shady characters.  
  
And thus, he was in a hurry to get back to Telth, headquarters of the Guild. They were not the best people to have angry at you.  
  
Glancing behind him, Jor-el couldn't help but smile as he laid eyes upon his son. Even without the scanners, it had been easy to tell which person had been his son, out of the three he had found standing there in themiddle of that road. He obviously hadn't been the girl, and the other boy's skin had been the wrong color. Also, the fact that Kal-el was the spittong image of himself when he was younger helped matters a great deal.  
  
Heaving a sigh, Jor-el slowly stood up, walking to one ofthe back compartments of the ship. He had a report to file, and now was as good a time as any to get it done.  
  
---- ----  
  
Clark slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the pain in the back of his skull. His entire body felt like it was on fire, and he was having a hard time just keeping his eyes open. It was strange ........ he couldn't remember a time before when he had been in this much pain, except perhaps that one time when he had been without his powers, due to a lightning strike. But even that had been different -- then the pain had been centered on certain parts of his body, and he had gotten tired more wasily. Now ........ now his entire body felt like it was wreathed in flames, with needles jabbed into the oddest of places.  
  
Turning his head slightly, and wincing as he did it, Clark's eyes widend as he caught sight of the view outside of the long window to right right. Beyond was a deep blakness, with tiny dots he recognised to be stars. There was no end to the blackness, and no planets in sight.  
  
p  
  
He wasn't on earth anymore. He was on a ship ........ in space.  
  
The realization hit him like a ton of bricks, and Clark found himself short of breath, gasping for air.  
  
How had he gotten here? Clark searched his memory, straining to remember what he had been doing before he awoke on the flor of this mysterious ship. He didn't have long to think it over, however.  
  
The ship suddenly jerked, as if it had bumped into something. clark was sent skidding across the floor, and a strange beeping noise could be heard emnating from the front of the ship. Clark's head swung around as a man suddenly stepped into the room from a door he hadn't noticed before, at the back of the ship.  
  
It was ........ Memory suddenly came flooding back, of this man shooting some kind of weaspon at him, with Lana and Pete watching close by. Who was he? What did he want? HAD HE HURT LANA OR PETE?  
  
Clark could feel the anger building up inside of him, threatening let loose in a tidal wave. somewhere int he back of his mind, he knew that he had to calm down, that this wasn't the time to lose control. That could wait until later, when he had a better understanding of what was happening.  
  
---- ----  
  
Jor-el glanced quickly at his son, before making a beeline for the computer console. He'd barely gotten halfway through his report when he'd been thrown from his seat, landing at a rather uncomfortable angle on his small bed. His side was now sore, and he wanted to know what the HELL was going on.  
  
fingers skimming over the console, jor-el felt a grin slowly spreading over his face. when would Alna learn to send a message, rather than just ramming his ship? He'd haveto have a talk with that boy, one of these days.  
  
Chuckling softly, Jor-el brought the communications screen up, waiting for Alna to respond to his hails. It could take a while -- the boy wasn't known for paying attention to his communications console too much.  
  
That crisis safely taken care of, Jor-el turned around to stare at his son. Kal-el had risen to his knees, but seemed to be having trouble standing up, or doing anything more than just kneeling there, staring up at Jor-el. Jor-el frowned, rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully, before it suddenly hit him -- gravity, and the lack of the sun.  
  
Kal-el earned his powers from the sun -- powers that Jor-el had tested out before finding his son. When he had entered the earth's atmosphere, his bones had suddenly felt stronger, more resiliant, and he had found that any fatigue he might have had, had been washed completely away. After a little bit of expermintation -- and broken, tipped over furnitre -- he had found that he could run faster than more vehicles back on Teleth, and his strength had increased atleast tenfold.   
  
And, of course, there was the fact that gravity on this ship was different from that of the backwater planet of Earth. Earth's atmosphere was relatively light, compared to that of Teleth, whic had a similar gravitational pull to that of Krypton. Kal-el just wasn't used to the extra weight ........ but he would get used to it, of the Jor-el had no doubt.  
  
Kneeling in front of the boy -- or young man, for a boy he wasn't -- Jor-el reach of a hand gently brush back a strand of wayward black hair, only to have Kal-el jerk back, as if afraid of his touch. What ..?  
  
"Do you know who I am?" Jor-el asked, eyes narrowed and lips thinned to a straight line. True, he hadn't seen Kal-el since he was a baby, but he has just automatically assumed that Kal-el would remember him. Perhaps he had been wrong in that assumption.  
  
Apparently, however, Kal-el remembered nothing of his Kryptonian heritage, for instead of anwering the question that Jor-el hd directed at him, he simply stared back, confused.  
  
"What?" Was the only response he recieved, in a language Jor-el recognised to be of the planet Earth. 'Even if he hadn't taken the time to learn the languages of the planet, he had acquainted himself with how they sounded.  
  
Apparently, this was going to be far more difficult than he had first imagined.  
  
---- ----  
  
Sorry about how long it took for me to get this chapter up and running :) Now, about the reviews ...  
  
lode -- okay, okay, i get it! grammer = very, very important. gotcha. this new chapter has capitals in it, see? yay! cheer for me :)   
  
sweet strawberries -- what is it with people and my grammar? again, this one has grammer, so that should make you happy. and about what happens next ... well, you'll just haveto wait and see :) p  
  
the die hard -- um .. okay, you obviously know your english history real good. anyways, it's not all undercase this time, so that should make you hapy :)   
  
wallflower23 -- be happy to!   
  
A -- the explanation for THAT one won't come 'till later. Lana and Pete, and all of the other residents of smallville, are going to be playing a pretty minor role in this fic. it's all about clark, baby :) and trust me, i'm gonna keep writing this fic for a while yet. i plan on this one gong on for a while :)   
  
orliewanhottie -- thanks for the info! i'm not sure if that'll help me when writing this fic, but it might just make me put some red kryptonite stuff in here, just so people can get more of the bad clark. although, you know ........ bad clark WITHOUT the help of red kryptonite might be even more interesting ........ but, here's another chapter for you to devour :) 


	4. Of Brain Implantations and Atmospheric C...

remember : i update once i get one review. it's the same for all of my stories. so please leave a review, especially is someone hasn't already! enjoy :D  
  
-------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------  
  
Groaning under his breath, Clark slowly raised himself up into a sitting position, one hand reaching up to massage his aching forehead. Keeping his eyes warily on the older man's face, Clarktried frantically to sift through the tangled mess that was his brain.  
  
He would NOT give this man the satisfaction of knowing that he could understand his speech perfectly well.   
  
Jor-el sighed heavily, glancing at his son one last time before standing up and heading over to the main console. Just as he reached it, it suddenly starting flashing, and he smiled slightly at the timing. "Hey," He said warily as the visage of Anla appeared on the large view screen.  
  
"Jor-el? You alright? I was in the area, so the Guild went ahead and told me to come collect you. They're really interested to know what your doing all the way out here." Anla grinned at the smaller man, bright orange eyes twinkling merrily. He always looked like he was taking part in a joke known only to him, and while it had been annoying at first, now it was actually quite pleasant. He needed courtesy and laughter right now. His son's refusal to cooperate was already beginning to grind on his nerves.  
  
"I found Kal-el" Was all he said, yet Anla's eyes widened considerably at those three small words. Such small words, with such profound meaning.  
  
"Have you given him the chip yet?" Anla had to grin at the look that crossed Jor-el's face at his question. The man really could be incredibly stupid sometimes.  
  
"I'll leave you to it, then. Just let me place a tenta on your ship, alright?"   
  
Jor-el nodded absently, bracing himself for the sharp pull he knew was to come as Anla secured their ships togeather, so that or-el's ship would be pulled in the wake of Anla's.  
  
Slowly turning around, Jor-el walked until he was standing over his son. Slowly raching down, he grasped the boy by his shoulders and bodily lifted him from the floor. The boy was surprisingly light, for all his size.  
  
"Kal-el, if you can understand me, undersand this : unless you prove that you can communicate with me, I will be forced to implant an device into your brain which will allow you comprehend he Kyrptonian language. Can you understand me, or do I need to perform the operation?"  
  
Clark's eyes widened slightly, and he tried frantically to push down the bile that suddenly rose to his throat. "I can understand you. You don't need to do anything like that." Clark said quickly in Kryptonian, wincing as the man reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair away from his face.  
  
"Kal-el, we'll talk about your earlier refusal to speak with me in our native language later. For now, let's get you changed into something more appropriate. These human clothes simply will not do."   
  
Jor-el smiled softly, and Clark was struck suddenly by how much the other man looked like him. People had always claimed that he looked just like Jonothan Kent, and he'd always agreed, always enjoyed the thought that he shared something in common with his adoptive father. Now, however, he was beginning to see how very much he didn't look like other man.   
  
Ignoring the offered hand, Clark struggled to his feet, breathing heavily from the effort. "You'll get used to it. The atmosphere here is much heavier than that of the planet I found you on." Jor-el sighed heavily, taking one last glance at his son before turning and starting on his way to the small back room that served as both a bedroom and a small office.  
  
Clark followed more hestitatingly, never taking his eyes off the man in front of him. He was weak here, and unable to defend himself. It was a new experience, and he was fast realizing that it was one that that didn't like. No, he didn't like it at all.


	5. Discoveries and Explanations

deichtine -- all of the chapters should be up at my site by now. here's the address again : http:www.visual-sentiments.net or http:visual.my-fault.net . either one will work, and you'll notice a link to enter into the fanfiction galleries. the story will be updated on both sites. and thanks for the complaiment! i plan on bringing in some darker sides of clark's heritage, people, and his own soul ........ but i think i just gave away too much! grr. enjoy!  
  
--------  
  
hopefully the length of this chapter will make up for, first of all, how long it took me to update last time, and second of all, the shortness of the chapter. hope y'all enjoy :D  
  
-------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------   
  
Lana Lang shivered slightly, wrapping her arms more tightly around her bent knees. When that man had suddenly taken Clark, she'd felt like she was in some kind of a dream. It was only when he glanced at her, his eyes holding what almost seemed to be some kind of a dark promise, that she'd taken a step back, away from him. Pete had come to stand in front of her, as if he could somehow protect her from the larger, mysterious man who bore an uncanny resemblance to Clark.  
  
Somehow, she had known that that wasn't true. And when the man had lifted that strange, cylindrical object that had somehow paralyzed Clark ........ everything had immediately gone black. She'd felt a strange sort of peace, almost as if she knew, instinctively, that nobody could ever hurt her again.  
  
And now, here hse was, in a small little room with Pete nowhere in sight. That man had come and gone a couple of times, mostly working on what she supposed was some kind of paperwork. Out the window she could see stars and the occassional planet whizzing by, and while at first it had fascinated her, now it just made her feel sick.  
  
Every child dreamed of flying through space, of setting foot on a distant planet. And now that she was finially able to fulfull that child fantasy ........ all that she wanted was to be home, shivering under he covers as she recovered from this nightmare.  
  
But it was too real to be a nightmare, wasn't it? You didn't get this scared in your dreams. It was only once you woke up and actually started thinking about your dreams that you got this frightened of them.  
  
Sniffing softly, Lana glaned up as the door opened yet again, gasping softly as she recognised Clark. He looked tired, and a little out of it, but relatively okay. She immediately stood up, taking a step toward him and the strange man, only to gasp in surprise as she ran straight into a wall. A wall that for all intents and purposes shouldn't have been there.  
  
Land brought her hands up to the unseen wall, glaring with all her might at the one man who could be the only one responsible for this.   
  
As Clark glanced around the sparsely furnished room, Lana held her breath, waiting for him to notice her, to rush to her rescue, just like he always did. However, Clark's eyes passed right over, almost as if he couldn't see her. Lana moaned softly, sinking back down to the floor in a graceful heap.  
  
-------- --------   
  
Clark sighed softly, glancing quickoly over the room. There seemed to be some kind of room within this one, with a small door leading beyond. He instantly narrowed his eyes, reaching out for his x-ray vision to enable him to see what was beyond the wall. However, nothing happened.  
  
Gasping in shock, Clark quickly glanced at the man beside him, his fear growing by leaps and bounds. If his powers weren't working at all ........ then he was at greater risk than he had first supposed.  
  
Swallowing hard against the sudden lump in his throat, Clark walked over to where the other man was standing, cautously sitting down on the single bed he found there. The older man was currently rummaging around in what looked vaguely like a colset -- there were several buttons and dieals to the side, but iwas filled with clothes.  
  
"Here we go, this should fit you just fine." Jor-el turned back around, smiling brightly at his son. When he merely recieved a cold stare from his son, Jor-el sighed softly, quickly sitting down beside the young man.  
  
"Kal-el, let's get a few things out of the way first, alright? First of all, I don't want to hurt you. I would never hurt you for anything in the world. Second off, i'm sure you don't realize this, but i'm your father."   
  
Clark was almost immediately on his ffet, taking a couple of steps back from the mysterious man. "Wait just a dman minute! Didn't you die? Didn't you send me to Earth because you and everybody else on my planet were dead?" Clark was shouding now, the anger evident in his voice.  
  
"Kal, I thought we WOULD die. I didn't think that there was any possible way that the council would heed my warnings and allow me to take you and your mother, atleast, away from Krypton. So I broke the law -- I sent you away without perission, without leave. I would have probably been executed for disobeying a direct order like that, if the tragedy i had been warned of hadn't come to pass just as the council was deciding what to do with me. I sent you away, and I almost didn't get to come and find you."  
  
Jor-el paused for breath, carefully studying the face of his son. "I work for an orginization known as The Guild, now. I haven't been able to come and find you, yet, but the minute I was finially left to my own deviced for a sufficient amount of time, I left to come and find you. I didn't know exactly where you were sent, and that's why it took me a bit longer than I would have liked. I should have come for you immediately, but those were survived the destruction of Krypton needed a home ........ and they needed somebody who could find them that home. I had always been a leader in our community, Kal. And thus, they looked to me. I could only hope and wish that you were found by good people, who could take care of you properly."  
  
Jor-el lead a hand on the back of his son's head, smiling gnetly as he got up. "I haveto go. Get changed, alright? We'll be arricing at the Guild headquarters before too long, and I want you to make a good first impression. They helped us out alot when we needed to find a new planet to settle down on,a nd we owe them alot."  
  
Clark watched as the older man -- his biological father -- walked out of the room. Sighing heavily, Clark slowly stood up, leaning his hip against the bed for it's added support. He was still pretty weak, after all.  
  
-------- --------   
  
Lana was now pressed flat against the wall behind her, staring at Clark with wide eyes. What ........? That man was his father? From another planet? Mind reeling, she wrapped her arms even tighter around herself, drawing legs up close against her chest, as close as she could get them.   
  
Shivering slightly, Lana glanced back at Clark, tears stinging her eyes, only to find him pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it onto the floor as he reached for his pants. Even though she knew that she should close her eyes, turn her head away, and just general NOT LOOK, Lana couldn't seem to do it. Her eyes were glued on the sight before her.   
  
Clark was now stripped down to his boxers, and he reached hesitatingly for the fpile of clothing that Jor-el had left for him. that's it, clark. think of him as jor-el. hes' not dad -- dad is jonothan kent. he's just some guy who abandoned you ........ even if he did do it to save your life. dammit! no! no sympathy! i can't feel symptahy for him, because if i start to feel sympathy for him, then i might start to like him, and if i start to like him ........ clark quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind, reaching again for the pile of clothing, only this time with determination.  
  
they were just clothes. it didn't mean anything that Jor-el had given them to him. If he was gonna be here for a litle while -- even if it was just until he returned home -- he needed to blend in. He was good at blending in with people who were different from him. So, maybe this wouldn't be quite so hard.   
  
-------- --------   
  
Jor-el stared out the view screen, watching as the Guild headqarters came into view. It was the size of a small planet, and it was always amazed him that they had actually taken the time to create the structure, rather than just inhabiting one of the many uninhabited planets in the sector. But they insisted that ths was far easier, and he wasn't about to argue with the people who were mostly responsible for the hapiness and peace that his people now endured.  
  
Turning away from the sight before him, Jor-el slowly walked back into the room behind him, smiling gently when he saw his son buckling up his shirt. His Earth clothes lay folded neatly on the bed, the odd footwear resting beside them.  
  
Jor-el watched in silence as his son bent down to slip the boots he had set aside for him onto his surprisingly slender feet. Well, slender for a Kryptonian, annyway. They were most likely quite larger for the humans that inhabited that backwater planet they had just come from. But the boots should fit him just fine -- they were Jor-el's and his son had obviously inherited his slender, womanly feet.  
  
Clark glanced up, surprised to find that Jor-el had re-entered the room. Mind playing back on everything that had happened in the last couple of hours -- or, atleast, he hoped that he hadn't been out for more than a couple of hours -- Clark's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Where are my friends? The two people I was with? Did you hurt them?"  
  
Jor-el sighed softly. He had hoped that Kal-el would continue to forget about the two young people he had been with when Jor-el had come to retrieve him. Glancing bck at the artificial wall that lay on the right side of the room, Jor-el quickly walked toward it, his steps long and sure. Upon reaching his destination, he reached over and touched a button on the wall that he knew to be there, even if it was invisible to the naked eye.  
  
the wall instantly dissolved, revealing a young, dark-haired girl curled up on the floor with her back against the wall. Turning to his son, he stared at the boy for a moment, before saying by way of explanation, "I couldn't risk her causing a commotion, and aleting your parents to my presense. Who knows what they might have done? It is forbidden for outsiders to have access to the humans on your planet, as backwater and un-advacned as it is. The other one, the boy, fainted dead away, but she didn't look like she was goning to follow suit any time soon. And I could tell that she was worrie dabout you. So I brought her along. Her memory will haveto be wiped of this little incident, and the Guild will probably send somebody to do the same for your dark-skinned friend. But for now, she's here. With you. Bring her along when you come out. We'll be landing any minute now."  
  
Jor-el turned and walked tot he door, stoppig to glance back at his son, who was standing in the exact same position as when he had first seen his friend. Sighing softly, Jor-el slowly walked otu the door, shaking his head in amusement. The attraction -- perhaps even love -- that was there was tangible. He could almost see it, smell it, it was so strong.But some things were just not meant to be. Kal-el could never be with that girl -- it would be too dangerous, and any child he had with her -- or any ot her human girl -- would be far to dangerous. It would only end in heartbreak and mistery.  
  
Sighing softly, Jor-el walked tot he viewscreen, preparing the ship to land. And preparing himself, as well. The Guilt was not going going to be happy with him. 


	6. More Explanations, and an Attack

deichtine -- don't worry, all will be explained soon enough. hope you enjoy the next chapter!  
  
dictionary -- sheesh, kinda rude of you to put it that way, don't you think? but i'll start being more careful from now on, promise :D  
  
-------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------   
  
Clark swallowed thickly against the lump that had suddenly risen in his throat, slowly making way across the room of the form of Lana, huddled on the floor. "Lana? Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"   
  
Lana glanced up, watching Clark warily, and it was then that he saw it. A white bandage covered the left side of her head, just above and to the right of her eye. And it was then that he remembered Jor-el's words from earlier.   
  
I will be forced to implant an device into your brain which will allow you comprehend he Kyrptonian language  
  
If Jor-el had implanted that device into Lana's brain ........ then that meant that she had understood every words that had been spoken between him and the older man. It meant that she knew his secret.  
  
"Lana, I need you to listen to me, alright? That man's name is Jor-el, and he put something inside of your head. He put a decive into your brain so that you can understand the language we were speaking a momenta go. It's called Kryptonian. What you just heard -- Lana, please, please don't hate me. I couldn't tell you. I just couldn't. My parents were always afraid of what people would think, how they would react. They didn't want me to tell people, because they were afraid of losing me. But Lana, I didn't want you to hate me. I didn't want you to blame me for your parents deaths. I ........ I don't know if the meteor rocks brought me to Earth, or if I brought them." Clark knew that he was rambling, babbling even, but he couldn't seem to stop talking.   
  
Lana blinked up at Clark, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Clark ........you rally are a dumbass sometimes, you know that, don't you? You were a BABY. There is no way that I could ever blame you for what happened. Blame your father and the rest of your people? Yeah, maybe. But you're Clark. I knew that you were hiding something, I just didn't know what. And while I wish that you could have trusted in me enough to share the burden of your secret, I understand. You may not be afraid of many things, but I think I understand the one thing that you are afraid of. You're scared of losing the people that you consider family, aren't you Clark? Afraid of losting the people that you love."  
  
Clark blinked in surprise down at the young woman before him, a slow smile spreading across his features. "Thanks, Lana." He whispered, before holding out his hand to her, and hauling her up to her feet when she took the offered hand.  
  
Lana leaned against Clark, sighing softly. Well, atleast now she knew why she was all bandaged up and felt so tired. Clark siled softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he led Lana out of the room and into the mai part of the ship.   
  
Jor-el was there, punching away what Clark could only suppose was the main console. Quickly leading Lana to one of the few chairs that graced the room, Clark settled her down into it, noting with dismay how weak she was. It was doubtful that she could even stand on her own two feet if he wasn't there to hold her up and support her.  
  
Quickly fighting down the wave of anger that rose up in his heart at his biological father, Clark slowly walked over to Jor-el, coming to stand behind him just as the screen before him flickered and the face of an older woman appeared in crystal clear quality.  
  
"Jor-el. You are to come to my Quarters immediately with an explanation as to your wherabouts. And you'd better make it good." The woman was just about to sign off when she noticed Clark for the first time. "And tell me, Jor-el, who is this?"  
  
Jor-el smiled softly, glancing behind himself at his young son. "My Son, Kal-el. I couldn't wait for you to find him any longer, High Tela. I'm sorry, but I had to find him for myself. And as you can see, I was quite successful."  
  
"Oh, we've known where your son was from the moment you mentioned the boy, Jor-el. We simply did not think it wise to inform you of his wherabouts. And before you start getting all high and mighty on me, allow me to explain. Please, come to my quarters immediately. You really have made a muck of things this time."  
  
With that, the strange woman dissappeared from the screen, and Jor-el let out a bellow of rage. "Damn her! Damn her to Hell and back again! And then damn her to Hell again! Only she won't come back again, because she doesn't deserve to live, the stupid bitch!" Clark blinked in surprise, watching as his biological father paced back and forth in front of him, hands balled into tight fists of rage.  
  
As Jor-el turned around again to continue his pacing, Clark sighed softl, wondering if he should try and calm the man down. Glancing over at Lana, he noticed the fear evident in her every feature, and that clinched it. Reaching out, Clark intended to grab the older man's shoulder, but only ended up being thrown straight into him as the ship suddenly rocked forward.   
  
Scrambling to his feet, Clark watched the screen before him in horror as to large ships suddenly whipped past them, heading straight for the structure before them, where the transmission they had just witncess earlier had obviously come from. They rammed straight into the structure, breaking and burning into a thousand small explosions, and quite a few not so small ones, as well. From the distance, he could see several other ships heading in the same manner as the first two, clearly intending to ram into the building as well.  
  
Jor-el drew in a sharp gasp of air, raching forward to grip his son's shoulder, as if for support. glancing backwards, Clark watched the older man's face, suddenly realising that this was NOT a normal occurance. Hadn't this place ever been attacked before ........?  
  
"Kal, we haveto get out of here. Do you remember anything about flying a ship? You probably learned how tos peak Kryptonian in that cave near the town you grew up in, right? There was a device that should hve downloaded all of the information of the Kryptonian people into your brain. That includes how to fly a personal sized ship like this one. Do you rememver?"  
  
As he spoke, Jor-el quickly walked toward a smaller console, off to the side of the main one.  
  
As much as he hated to admit it, Clark knew that Jor-el was right. When we stared at the console in front of him, he just ........ KNEW what each individual key did, what the combinations were for different flight patterns, different defense patters.  
  
Swallowing thickly, Clark quickly walked up to the other console just off to the side of main one. He didn't know what was going, and he sure as hell didn't like it, but he'd haveto deal with it for now. He would NOT let anything happen to Lana.  
  
So for now, he'd cooperate with the other man. But he'd be DAMNED if he'd trust him for even a second. 


End file.
